Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (23 page)

We had a teacher’s workday coming up, creating a three-day weekend, perfect for clearing my head.
I needed some serious spiritual guidance. I had just the right person to give it to me too.

Uncle Mashu
,
my mom
’
s brother and a psychologist
,
lived in
Wrightsville
Beach
. During the spring and summer months
,
he managed a surf shop that I usually volunteered to help him run. During the fall and winter months
,
he turned his place into a
weekend
home for troubled kids. He was also a medicine man who loved the
sea
as much as I did.

Standing outside his
mansion-
sized beach house that was built right next to the shop
,
I inhaled
the ocean
’
s strong scent.
The entire scene
reminded me of Gia. I didn
’
t want to admit it
,
but
I knew that was the reason why I volunteered to spend
the long weekend
with my uncle.

Since the
water was
too cold to surf in
,
the group of kids my Uncle was mentoring this week spent most of their time around
camp fires
at night. We shared ghost stories. Ones like the tale of Headless Mar
y, a
spirit
that haunted the town of Castle Hayne.
The legend claimed that she
searched
for
both
her head and lover each Halloween.

“
In light of the recent circumstances
,
I think we should change the subject
,”
Uncle Mashu suggested. A few grumbles rippled through the group; but I had to admit that I was a tad relieved to move away from stories about spirits walking along the back roads
. The
Dark Agent
s and
Walker
s
were already enough to deal with. The fifteen or so kids in our group all got up and headed back to their
rooms
. All except one person who never said much at all the entire time we sat around the fire.

The one girl Uncle Mashu called Mel stayed behind. I waited to see if she
were
coming along with the rest of us. She just stood there
,
staring out at the ocean
,
her hands bunched up inside the shawl she wore around her shoulders. Her body was rail thin; and she had this aura around her that made you want to protect her.

Listen at you talking about an aura. Mashu and his spiritual
talk
is rubbing off on you
,
my man
.

“
They
’
re out there
,”
she announced without turning around. I didn
’
t make a sound.
How
did she hear me?

“
Did you say something?
”
I asked
,
even though I clearly understood
her statement.

She scoffed a laugh.
“
You heard me
,
Caleb Elijah Wood.
”

Whoa.
She just used my whole name. How in the world?
Right. It was probably time to turn around and leave Miss Creepy Bones standing out here by herself. I started back toward the house.

“
If you leave
,
then you
’
ll never know what happened to her
,”
she
announce
d. Those words got my attention.
“
You do want to know where she is
,
right?
”
She turned her dark eyes on me this time. But my voice wouldn
’
t work even if somebody held a gun to my head.

Reality
hit me like a hammer. This girl had sat in our group all night without saying a word. Not one
person
stopped to ask her if she were going to come inside out of the cold.
When
it came time for her to talk about a story at the
camp fire
,
she glanced up at Mashu and gave him a nervous look. My uncle
told everyone to head for bed before she even had a chance to talk.

“
I can see them too
,
the ones dressed in the scary black clothes. Sometimes
they
stalk me in my dreams. One of them told me to tell you to keep your distance. He said that if you don
’
t stay away then more of you will disappear.
”

“
What have the idiots done to my girl?
”
I demanded. My chest heaved and a heated rush
pounded
through me for the first time in almost a week.
Still this
girl just told me that she could see the
Walker
s
too
.
I couldn
’
t believe it was true. It meant that I wasn
’
t the only freak in town.

Apparently
,
Mel
wasn
’
t as excited as
me
.
“
Talk to your uncle
,
Caleb. He can help you out the same way he did for me.
”
  Turning toward me
,
she wore a sad expression on her face.
“
The balance has tilted. They
’
re everywhere
,
now. Stay away. You
’
ve been warned. If you don
’
t
,
then we
’
ll all suffer.
”

On those last words
,
she started walking toward the house
,
leaving me to stare out across the dark skies hiding the ocean.

“
Caleb
,
is everything alright out here
,”
Uncle Mashu
’
s voice said behind me. I turned to face him.

“
What are they?
”
I asked him.
“
I know you can see them too. Mel just told me your little secret.
”

He sighed deeply and stepped closer to me.
“
I can only sense
the wandering angels
. I
,
however
,
am not blessed with the gift of spiritual sight as you are.
”

At once a rush of things showered me: Dad
’
s scanty appearances
,
M
om
’
s mood swings
,
Gia
’
s disappearance.
“
I
’
m kind of in a jam
,
Uncle M.
”

“
I know. Your spirit is troubled. Talk to me.
”
He sat down on
the
rock closest to the dying fire and poked at it. The flames highlighted his strong cheekbones
,
but they didn
’
t hide the worry in his face.
In all the years I had
known
Uncle Mashu
,
he
never
once
looked worried. It gave me an uneasy feeling about our conversation.

I sat down
,
inhaled
,
glanced at
him
and said
,
“
I think I
’
m falling in love.
”
See that wasn
’
t so bad.

“
Yes, t
he Jensen girl. Your mother told me all about her. She fancies that child
,
my baby sister does.
”

“
Uh. It
’
s not Erica. It
’
s
—
there
’
s this other girl. I kind of want to tell her
how I feel about her
. But I don
’
t think that
’
s a good idea
,”
I muttered.

A long pause filled with
the sound of crashing
waves
entered
the space between us.
“
Tell me about this girl.
”

“
Well
,
she
’
s gorgeous
,
smart
. Street
tough. Oh yeah
,
and she has skateboard moves like you wouldn
’
t believe.
”
She
’
s a ghost
,
an angel
,
maybe even a girl from my dreams.

“
Tell her how you feel
,”
Uncle Mashu said as he poked the fire a bit more.
“
If you continue to wait
,
then one day it will be too late. The Water spirits have always favored you
,
Caleb. You have the essence of the Earth inside you. The great Algonquin warriors of long ago have always been carriers of Earth and Fire. Water thrives in a union with either of those elements.
”

I made a light laugh.
“
Here I was thinking it
’
s because I
’
m a Scorpio.
”

“
Exactly. Even the stars knew to choose a Water based symbol to represent your birthday
,”
he said.
“
The stability in your spiritual
element
will pull you through. Whatever sacrifice you may face
,
always remember that strength and resolve are on your side. The
Water
spirits favor you; but there
are
also those who fear what you represent. Do not be afraid. Follow your warrior
’
s heart. Claim what is rightfully yours.
”

Hm. Finding courage in my heart after what I just learned about myself sounded totally impossible. My uncle was right, though. I was going to have to grow some guts.
At the end of the day, the
fearless man
always walked away with
the gold.
Oh yeah, and the girl too.
“
Thanks
,
Uncle M.
,”
I whispered and exhaled.

Chapter Thirteen

“
Don
’
t be mad. I thought a beach trip might do
us all
some good. I
’
m not talking about another one of your Uncle Mashu
’
s mind-game trips
,
either
,
”
Erica said
,
her round face crumpled with worry.

“I’m not upset. I just don’t know how I feel about going to the beach right now,” I explained.

I hated that I didn’t feel the same way for her as she did for me. Who was the real idiot here, though? Through her actions, Gia made it pretty clear that she didn’t want anything to do with me. I promised myself that I would try this relationship thing for both Erica’s sake and mine.

Shani
,
Kyle
,
Erica
,
and I all hung out in my living room
,
making plans to spend the weekend at Cape Hatteras
while her aunt and uncle spent time there looking for renovators. Basically, we’d be alone
for most of the day
. So it wouldn’t feel
like our freedom was restricted
too much
.

“
Come on
,
Caleb. You have to go
.
You cannot leave me to deal with Kyle
’
s crazy plans all on my own
,”
Shani
pleaded.

“
Don
’
t worry. Shani and I
actually halfway like each other now
,”
Erica said and gave Shani a huge grin.

“
Speak for
you
,”
Shani replied
and
then elbowed her in the ribs.
“
Just kidding
,
okay? Don
’
t go crying in your pom poms.
I’m looking forward to taking a break from work. The movie theatre attracts more and more creeps all the time. Sheesh!
”
She shivered and made a face, emphasizing her point.

I forced a smile onto my lips. My friends wanted me to be happy. The
y actually cared enough about my health
to make plans to cheer me up. Still my mind drifted back and forth between
the laser-showdown that
happened at the skate park
with Paige and Gia
,
the missing
students
,
Mel
’
s advice
,
and
the Razors’
disappearance.

“
Think about it
,”
Kyle began
,
“
Come next year at this time
,
we
’
ll all be in our dorm rooms. We need to take advantage of life while we
’
re still carefree
,
bro.
”
He threw an arm over my shoulder. Plus
,
he had a point. I didn
’
t need to sit around
the
house worrying about everything. It seriously wasn
’
t going to help my situation.

“
So
,
we
’
re on?
”
Erica asked with hope in her voice.
“
Just say the word
,
and
the
beach house is ours for the weekend
.
Both
my aunt and uncle
will be in and out so much that we won’t even realize they’re around
.
”

“
I cannot tell you how deliciously fun that sounds
,”
Shani said and made her way over to Kyle.
“
Isn
’
t that right
,
baby
?
”
She eased her arms around his waist and pulled him away from me. Then
my friend and his shadow
started doing what they did best these days
,
slobbering all over each other.

“
Well
,
don
’
t they look all
cute and lovey
?
”
Erica said
,
a jealous expression on her face.

“
Get used to it. We
’
ll be spending the whole weekend watching them
choke on each other’s tongues
,”
I said.

“
Maybe not. I mean
,
there
’
ll be times when we
’
ll want to do our thing
,
too. I
’
m sure of it
,”
Erica said.

Time to change the subject!
“
Have you thought anymore about what could be happening with your uncle and my dad?
”
I asked.

Her face fell
,
and she let out a long sigh.
“
Not really. I have other things on my mind
,
you know.
”

I was willing to bet every single
Naruto
book I owned on
a
connection
between my
dad
’
s emergency trip
into the unknown
,
the missing kids
,
and
Paige
’
s confession about Gia being a princess. That still blew my mind every time I thought a
bout Gia as some kind of royal-blooded girl
.  I know I should
n’t
think about her
the way I did, e
specially
,
when I was with Erica. But somehow thoughts of Gia always drifted in the back of my mind and heart.

Later that night
,
Mom approached me while I was sitting on the couch watching the news. The search party for Jillian and
Corey
wasn
’
t successful. It had been a little over a week since the tornado hit the island.

Mom sat down beside me and turned the volume down.
“
I’m worried
,
hon
.
You’re hardly eating. You have dark circles under your eyes.
Are you alright?
”

“
I
’
m cool
,”
I lied.

She stared at me the longest time before she said anything.
“
This beach trip with
the Jensens
is a good thing. I
’
m sure you
’
ll have fun.
”

“
Yeah
,
me too.
”

Mom
leaned over, kissed my forehead,
and
then
glanced deep in my eyes
. A
worried look
filled hers
.
She had a
comforting presence
that
made me want to forget everything bad
,
all of the pain I
’
ve been feeling
,
lately. Moms always managed to do that
,
you know. They were kind of like magicians in a way.

“
Was Mashu
’
s advice not enough
,
hon?
I don’t know, Caleb, I just thought that a man talk might do you some good, right now,
”
she explained.

“
I
’
ll be
fine
,
Mom. Seriously
,”
I assured her
. The truth was that I had no idea what would happen to me if I didn
’
t get my head together. Part of me wanted to tell Mom about the
Walker
s
. The other half told me I
’
d put her in danger if I did.
“
Everything
’
s all good
,
okay?
”
I moved away from her hands.

She gave me a weak smile
,
making me feel guilty for planning a trip with my friends when she
’
d be left at home all by herself. But the pain of losing Gia
,
a girl I probably never had a chance with in the first place
,
was something I needed to deal with. Now
,
it wasn
’
t just affecting me and my friends
,
it was hurting my mom too.

* * *

“
I feel like my butt cheeks are freezing
,”
Erica
blurted
and snuggled up closer to my side of the bench. Shani and Kyle had conveniently disappeared and left me to deal with a sex-hungry girlfriend by my side.

“
The beaches are really cold during the fall months
,
aren
’
t they?
”
She l
eaned
her head
against
my shoulder.

“
Yeah
,
I guess
,”
I answered without taking my eyes away from the sun setting over the ocean
,
thinking of the day Gia and
I sat on the beach and did the
same
thing
. So much had happened since then.

On the shores
across from the pier
,
I spotted both Kyle and Shani playing
Frisbee
with another group of kids who
’
d crashed here in Cape Hatteras for the three-day weekend. We all took full advantage of a much needed break
, e
specially
after the past couple of weeks
’
events. I should
’
ve been jumping up like a bouncy toy. But no
, m
y
stupid chest ached with longing
,
and that knot in my throat just wouldn
’
t go away no matter how many power drinks I
chugged
.

I think any fool could say that Gia Jones existed inside every part of me no matter how much I wanted to forget about her.

It had been
well over a week
since I last saw her. I only had the memory of her voice when she told me that she was alive and doing fine. The image of her face that night after the competition
,
the time when I fell asleep in her arms haunted me. Paige
’
s words floated around my head too. She kept trying to force me to tell her Gia
’
s name. Why?

I drifted deep inside my thoughts when Erica
’
s voice cut into them.
“
Caleb
,
didn
’
t you hear me? I said we can head down there and join them if you like.
”

“
Huh? Oh
,
yeah. We can do that
,”
I attempted to stand up. Erica had other plans for me
,
though.

“
Caleb
,
wait
,”
she said
,
pulling me back down onto the
bench
. She leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips before I could say anything.

At first
,
my body was at war with my head. Her kiss was filled with longing and heat. I found myself responding by moving my lips against hers. Various inactive parts of my
anatomy t
ingled back to life. But then
,
the reality of what I was doing to this girl made its way into the moment.